Like the other 31 teams in the NFL, the Ravens will be in Indianapolis for the Scouting Combine later this week.
And, like many of those other teams, they’ll be taking care of business beyond timing players in the shuttle run while they’re there. Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that one of the items on their to-do list is a meeting with Joe Linta about a new contract for Linta’s client Joe Flacco. Linta told PFT last week that he expected to meet with the Ravens in Indianapolis.
It’s the first time the two sides have met face-to-face since August and it comes with the clock ticking on the deadline to use the franchise tag on their starting quarterback and the Super Bowl XLVII MVP. There’s no chance that the Ravens wouldn’t avail themselves of that option if they aren’t able to reach agreement on a long-term deal before the March 4 deadline to tag players.
Avoiding the tag could mean staying away from a cap-clogging figure -- $14.6 million for the regular tag or more than $20 million for the exclusive designation -- that would hinder the Ravens’ ability to do other things early in free agency. This week’s meeting could be a step toward making that happen or it could establish that the two sides are too far apart to get things done in the next two weeks.